Collapsible ice skate scabbard



Jan. 2, 1962 R. N. KESNER ETAL 3,015,492

COLLPSIBLE ICE SKATE SCABBRD Filed April 5, 1960 TTORNEY United StatesPatent 4nice 3,015,492 Patented Jan. 2, 19162 3,015,492 COLLAPSIBLE ICESKATE SCABBARD Richard N. Kesner, Needham, and Herbert B. Hawes,

East Brookfield, Mass., assignors to St. Lawrence Manufacturing Company,Inc., Gitard, Quebec, Canada,

a corporation of the Province of Quebec Filed Apr. 5, 1960, Ser. No.20,079 8 Claims. (Cl. 280--11.38)

This invention relates to a guard or scabbard to be applied to the bladeof an ice skate. It is a primary object of the invention to provide ascabbard of this type which can be economically constructed andassembled and which will be held safely in place whether the skates arestored or used for walking on dry ground.

lt is a further object to provide a scabbard comprising duplicatemembers for the forward and rearward end of the skate and which isusable with most popular types of skates such as gure skates, racingskates, etc.

A still further object relates to the manner in which the scabbard canbe collapsed, so that it will occupy a minimum of space, collapsed intothe single plane of the scabbard members and with either member above orbelow the other. v

I These and other objects will be understood from th followingdescription when considered in connection with the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the scabbard in position forapplication to an ice skate.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are top and bottom plan views of the two members of thescabbard, taken on the lines 2 2 and 3-3, respectively, of FIG. l.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views, taken on the lines 4-4 and5-57 respectively, of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the center of theright hand member shown in FIG. l.

FIG. 7 illustrates the collapsed scabbard.

FIG. 8 illustrates the scabbard applied to a skate.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of the collapsedscabbard members illustrating a modification of the invention forlocking the members together.

FIG. 10 is a transverse sectional view thereof, taken on the line 10-10of FIG. 9.

The scabbard comprises two members 10 and 12, for attachment over theforward and rearward ends of the skate 47, the inner ends thereof beingconnected together by an attachment device shown as a coil spring 14encased in a plastic tube 15. While the two members 10 and 12 arereferred to as attached over the forward and rearward ends of the skate,the members are preferably duplicates so that neither is strictly aforward or rearward member. For convenience the head end of each memberis referred to as the outer end and the attachvment end as the innerend.

Each member 10 and 12 comprises side tlanges 16 and 18 and a bottomtread portion 20, the side flanges being spaced to provide alongitudinal groove 22 for receiving the blade 47 of the skate. Thegroove 22 has a at bottom extending from near the inner end 24 of themember toward the head 26 thereof, being curved upwardly as the groovenears the vhead 26 to correspond with the curvature of most skateblades.

The terminal groove in the head 26 is especially shaped to accommodateeither end of the most popular styles of present day skate blades. Thusthere is a curved section 2S in the upper portion of the head, extendingupwardly and terminating in a reverse bend 30 forming a pocketed end 32.The forward end of the groove 22, adjacent the lower portion of the head26, extends forwardly beyond the curvature 28 to form an end pocket 34for receiving and being secured over the reduced end of a skate blade,generally provided on the rearwardV end of figure skates tread portionis preferably formed with surface projections, shown as herringboneprojections 36, although other forms of anti-skid surface may beapplied.

Since the scabbard herein disclosed is intended for use, where theskater, for example, walks to or from the pond or rink, it is importantto have the scabbard fold intoa small compact unit. The tension spring14 must be of a certain diameter and strength to serve its functionproperly yet it should be accommodated within the contines of thescabbard members when collapsed and carried in the pocket.

The coil spring 14 has looped ends passed over pins or rivets 38. Asshown the rivets 38 are solid pins headed on one end and with a hollowprojection on the other which can be rolled outwardly into holdingposition. The pins extend through opposed projections 40 formed on theinner ends of the side flanges and tread portion of the members, thespace between the projections being barely sufficient to loosely receivethe looped ends of the spring, to form a pivot for the spring ends. l

To accommodate the -body of the spring within the scabbard members, whenthe scabbard is collapsed, there is provided a Vertical opening 42 ineach scabbard member. The tread portion 20 is cut away centrally asindicated at 44, providing a tapered groove, preferably of cylindricalcontour, in the central portion of `the ,tread (see FIG. 3) extendingoutwardly a short distance for receiving the spring 14 as shown in FIG.7. The inner faces of the side ilanges 16 and 18 are cut away near theirtop edges, as indicated at 46, to widen the upper portion of the groove22 adjacent the opening 42 (see FIG. 2) to accommodate the spring asshown in FIG. 7. Since the side flanges adjacent the opening arerelatively thin, the projections 40 are provided to afford suitableanchoring elements for the ends of the spring.

One further feature of the scabbard, illustrated in FIGS. 9 and l0,enables the scabbard members to be locked in collapsed position forstorage. Thusin this form of the invention the side anges of eachscabbard member are provided with stops 48 placed in the inner edge ofeach ange, the outer or forward vertical walls thereof being positionedin advance of the' inner or rearward walls 50 of projections 40 in thecollapsed'positions shown in FIG. 7. Either scabbard member 10 or 12 maythus be moved along the other scabbard'y member, in collapsed position,suciently to tension the spring 14 to cause the projections 40 to dropinto place behind the vertical walls of stops 48. The rearward wallsA 50thus become stops held against the stops 48 on the lower member. The twoscabbard members are held firmly together due to the tension of spring'14, then in angular relation to the plane of the contacting flanges o fthe scabbard members.

From the above description the use of the ice skate scabbard will beclear. The scabbard can be worn with most present day skates, regardlessof whether they Vhave curved ends `or straight or angled configurations,and

be held firmly in place while the user walks on non-icy surfaces. Thecoil spring is of su'cientstrength to hold the scabbard members firmlyon the skates, yet it is sufciently elastic to permit the scabbard to beused on skates up to one inch different in length. Thus three sizes ofscabbards have been found sullicient to accommodate most sizes ofskates. The scabbard can be applied without thought as to thefront orback thereof, the two members of the scabbard being duplicates.

When removed the scabbard can be collapsed intoY a compact unit, thethickness of the scabbard. Either member may be moved to a position suchthat the lower plane surface of its side flanges are in contact with theupper plane surfaces of the flanges of the other member. The

spring ends constitute hinges for the attachment ends of the members.The spring attachment element is confined entirely within the scabbardwhen collapsed for storage or for carrying in the pocket. The stops 48cause the collapsed members to be locked firmly together while not inuse.

The scabbard herein disclosed can 'be readily formed by injectionmolding of resinous materials, with or without ber reinforcement, or itmay be formed of metal, wood, or other material. If formed of wood ithas been found preferable to form the scabbard members of three plies ofmaterial, one for each flange, extending to the bottom of the treadportion, and a central ply shaped in conformance with the contour of thebase of the skate receiving groove. The stops 48 may be integralprojections molded on the flanges of the members 10 and 1 2 or they maybe in the form of pins inserted in or attached to the flanges.

The particular constructions here shown, while presently believed to bethe best forms now known for the intended purpose, are set forth forpurposes of illustration only, and not with any intention of limitingthe invention, the scope of which is set forth in the claims ap-Y pendedhereto.

We claim:

1. An iceY skate scabbard comprising duplicate forward and rearwardskate holding members, each formed with an inner attachment end and anlouter pocketed skate holding head, each said member comprising spacedside flanges and lower tread surfaces, said side flanges .andtread-surface forming between them a skate receiving groove extendingfrom the attachment end thereof to the said head of each, the groove insaid head having ann upwardly and rearwardly extending end wallconstituting a pocket for receiving Yand holding the end of the skateand a coiled tension spring secured to the attachment ends of saidmembers for drawing them toward one another, said members being formedwith a vertical opening in the rearward portion of said tread surface,adjacent the attachment ends thereof for receiving said coiled springwhen said vmembers are collapsed and assembled for storage one above theother.

2. The ice skate scabbard recited in claim 1 and a surface groove on thebottom of each'of said tread surfaces extending 'from said opening alongthe central portion of said tread surfacefor a limited distance toward Ksaid head, for receiving said coiled spring when the other of saidmembers is collapsed beneath said member.

Y 3. The ice skate scabbard recited in claim 2, said Y groove being ofgradually reduced depth as it extends along being Vwider adjacent saidopening than in the mainv Vbody thereof for receiving said coiled springwhen the other said member is collapsed above said member;Y

` V5. The ice skate scabbard recited in claim '4, and inwardly extendingspaced projections on the rearward ends of said members, beyond saidopening, facing inwardly toward one another, and means for securing saidcoiled spring between said projections.

6. An ice skate scabbard comprising duplicate forward and rearward skateholding members, each formed with an inner attachment end and an outerpocketed skate holding head, each lsaid member comprising spaced sideflanges and lower tread surfaces, said side flanges and tread surfaceforming between them a skate receiving groove extending from theattachment end thereof to the said head of each, the groove in said headhaving an upwardly and rearwardly extending end wall constituting apocket for receiving and holding the end of the skate and a coiledtension spring secured to the attachment ends of said members fordrawing them toward one another, said members being formed with avertical opening in the rearward portion of said tread surface,adjacent'the attachment ends thereof for receiving said coiled springwhen said members are collapsed and assembled for storage one above theother, and stops on the upper and lower portions of the side flangesthereof, engageable when the skate holding members are collapsed toprevent relative movement of one member with respect to the other.

7. The ice skate scabbard recited in claim 6, said spring yieldablyholding saidV stops in engagement, with said members maintained inlocked collapsed position.

8. An ice skate scabbard comprising two duplicate guard members havinginwardly directed attachment ends and outwardly directed headsrand lowersurfaces having tread portions, a resilient attachment element connectedY to said inwardly directed ends for exerting force in pulling saidmembers toward one another, each -of said members having side flangesspaced to provide a central longitudinal skate-receiving grooveextending'for the major portion of the length thereof and terminating atthe head end of said member in anupwardly and rearwardly eX- tendingwall, constituting a pocket for securing said member over the end of theblade of an ice skate positioned therein, said members being providedwith-upper and lower openings between said anges, adjacent the point ofattachment of said attachment element to said attachment ends, forreceiving said attachment element between said flanges when said membersare collapsed with one said member positioned above the other saidmember.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,686,667 Kaskey Oct. 9, 1928 1,930,810 Johnson'y rOct. 17, 1933 FOREIGNPATENTS `740,567 Germany Oct. 23, 1943 270,069 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1950

